The present invention relates generally to the growing and cultivation of plants. The method of developing a nutrient gradient for growing and cultivating crops was developed in the 1960s. Generally, a nutrient gradient is established in a growing medium by providing a strip (or band) of a soluble source of nutrition, such as nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), on the surface, or below the surface in tilled rows, in conjunction with a continuous water table using a mulch system of production.
The nutrients leach from the band and move through the growing medium by diffusion. In this manner, equilibrium is reached between the fertilizer band and the less-soluble nutrients found in the growing medium. Plant roots then grow toward the gradient. This system provides long term nutritional stability as the nutrients are not exposed to the elements and remain available for the plants.